Owen's Voice Through Dulce et Decorum Est
As Owen instigates the poem ‘strange meeting’ he initially expresses the tone as ‘dreamlike’ and distant. There is an almost heroic feel to the opening which becomes eerie as the realisation of hell dawns close for our narrative voice. The sombre tone used to describe the ‘sleepers’ contrasts with the sense of the paranormal created by the ‘dead smile’ and the ‘sullen hall’ of Hell invites the audience to feel a sense of isolation and woefulness.
Similarly, in Dulce et Decorum Est, a sombre, hellish tone is found as Owen illiterates the battlefield,” misty panes and thick green light.' we feel that the world has been turned against us, this is not a lively green, but a thick green. The window is not clear, but misty and that all things having to do with virtue and vitality have been cast away. This is the land of the walking dead. As a result, this could be used to justify Owen’s interpretation of war; a sickly paranormal hell used to instigate the dehumanisation of man and set aside all hopes content youth. However, Owen is quick to contrast this tone, as with the final shift, the narrative voice contradicts the remote, gruesome tone of the main monologue to the almost gentle, understated feel of the denouement in the statement, “I am the enemy you killed, my friend.”
Owen uses the phrase ‘my friend’ in Dulce et Decorum Est in an angry, ironic way. Here in Strange Meeting, he uses it paradoxically: the ‘enemy’ is the ‘friend’ this makes the audience believe that the term friend is void, met with anger and disdain for those in the living world during the war. However, when one reaches the ethereal world all may be forgiven for life outside of war is peace. Furthermore, this final section brings a change of tone with nothing eccentric but rather plain, mostly monosyllabic language, the simplicity of this language brought together with brief allusions to the brutality of the killing does not break the mood and the final invitation to sleep leaves us and the protagonists at peace further amplifying this idea of peace only after death. In contrast to this, ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ does not leave us in such a blissful way, but rather angry and critical.
Owen’s own voice is bitter, perhaps partly fuelled by self-recrimination for the suffering he could do nothing to alleviate. Owen dwells on explicit details of horror and misery in order to maximise the impact of the hell that living in war is. This criticality of the battlefield explicitly details Owens perspective on war, he did not want to glorify war, he did not want to believe in the sentiment encapsulated in his title ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ but rather invoke pity for the wasted lives lost in war.
